"I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'll understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am."
- Iris, Goo Goo Dolls
-*-
Claudia Henderson was watching her favorite show when she heard a loud cry. Full of sadness and misery. Her eyes widened in worry. She recognized that voice anywhere.
"Naomi!"
She quickly ran to the door but a red force threw her back, hitting her head on the edge of the wall in the process. She forced her eyes open, her head throbbing in pain as she let out a whisper of pain, desperate to help her honorary daughter.
She reached for the door knob and whispered, "Naomi..." She weakly repeated Naomi's name before her vision darkened. She lost her consciousness as the blood from her head started smearing the wall.
The red glow started glowing brightly as the wind harshly ruined her porch and gardens. Her breathing weakening and fading.
"Here!" Someone shouted, fighting the wind to get to the fainted, concussed, woman. The medic team quickly rushed towards her and carried her to the stretcher. They all fought the wind and carried the woman safely. The medic team drove away from the commotion, hoping to save the lady in the brink of death.
The siren of the ambulance caught the attention of everyone, now grasping the seriousness of the situation. They panicked and started gathering their family members.
Dustin's eyes widened when seeing the ambulance. He ran and went to the direction of his bike.
"Dustin! Where are you going?!" Lucas shouted. Mike and Will looked at their friend and ran in his direction when he started mounting his bike.
"Dustin!" Will shouted and caught the bike just before Dustin pedaled. Dustin looked back and saw Will holding his bike, "The situation looks very serious! You can't go anywhere alone."
"Will, let go!" He shouted in desperation.
"Where are you going?!" Mike shouted, helping Will holding the bike in place.
"My mom! That light is in the direction of our house! My mom could be in danger!" He shouted, tears started falling in his face.
Hearing the shouts, Karen ran in the direction of the kids and cupped Dustin's cheeks.
"Hey," she started softly. "Your mom is fine. She is a very strong woman." Her heart broke seeing the tear- streaked face of his son's friend.
"Just stay here for now, okay? We don't know what is happening but I have to keep you safe. All of you." She looked at the kids, "...if something happened to any of you, it'll be my fault and I will blame myself if anything happened to any of you. Please I have to keep you all safe." She begged. Right on time, Joyce and Jonathan arrived and following behind them is Lucas parents' car.
The Sinclairs ran to their son's side and hugged him. Erica joining in.
Joyce and Jonathan hugged Will. Dustin looked around, convincing himself that his mom's somewhere, also looking for him. His eyes locked with Joyce, telepathically asking her if she saw his mom. She shooked her head as an answer. Before he broke down in tears, Joyce hugging him.
Will, Mike, and Lucas looked at their friend in sadness. They rarely see Dustin cry, it was heart wrenching. He was always the one who made their day better, the one who made them laugh.
The sound of engines was heard everywhere. Heads turning to see black cars lined one by one, driving fast towards the direction of the light.
Joyce watched the lining cars going straight to the light, confused. Joyce locked her eyes to Jonathan who was also watching the cars pass by.
"Hawkins Lab." They both whispered, enough for everyone to hear.
Karen's forehead creased. Mr and Mrs. Sinclair looked at each other in confusion.
Dustin's hold to Joyce tightened because of the revelation of the involvement of the lab.
"Mom!" Karen Wheeler looked at the direction of the voice when she recognized her daughter's voice.
"Nancy!" She ran and hugged her. Happy that everyone in her family is okay.
"Everyone stay calm!" They heard the voice of Jim Hopper boomed at the panicked residents.
He explain to them to stay inside the house before hopping in his car to drive towards the light.
He drove pass the limit to catch up with cars in front of him. Curious about the situation and ready to announce to everyone to leave if necessary.
He was near the red blinding red light before a line of cars stopped him. He went out of his car and went straight to the armored people, guarding the vicinity.
"What is happening?!" He shouted.
"I'm sorry, sir. This is strictly confidential but know that we are doing everything we can. For now, please step back. This is dangerous."
-*-
Samuel Owens looked out of the window of the moving car. The residents looked terrified of what's happening. So was he.
He's scared right now. He was shaking. He knew it was his fault, he should not have pushed her buttons. She was clearly in wreck. Mentally unstable.
He couldn't imagine if he was in her shoes. Years and years of depression, started in a young age nonetheless. Traumas in the lab and not able to forget how she killed her own brother because of her memory. Killed people in a young age. That would kill him.
She didn't though. Because she was strong. She was different. She couldn't save herself, and he hoped he can help with that.
He watched as they got closer and closer to the red light. The team quickly went out of the cars and guarded the area to maintain the safety of curious people.
He got out of the car, the harsh wind blowing in his face. He covered his face with his arms in order to protect his vision. The team started searching the vicinity, trying to find if someone is in here other than 002 --- Naomi.
"Here!" He heard someone shouted and repeated in the walkie talkie to shout for help.
The medical team went to the other direction. Fighting the harsh wind and still carrying the empty stretcher. They appeared in the next few minutes, the stretcher holding a woman seemingly in her late 40's.
They put her inside the ambulance and took her away from the commotion.
"Name, Claudia Henderson. Big wound in the head and lost a lot of blood. Heartbeat fading. Put her in oxygen." The voice of the doctor can be heard the walkies. They seem to forgot to turn it off in panic. The sound of counting and in rush to steady the breathing of Claudia Henderson was still heard in the walkie talkies before Samuel Owens turned his off.
He started searching for Naomi. As he walked around, the team behind him, protecting him with their shields.
He went towards Naomi's house. He stopped as he saw the condition of the house. It was destroyed and in the middle of it was Naomi.
Red force going out of her chest as she screamed. The wind blowing more harshly. Deja vu. That's what Samuel Owens felt. He saw the glimpse of 007 -- Naveen in this situation.
His shouts, begging for mercy to stop everything because it hurts.
"Naomi!" He shouted.
Naomi opened her eyes. Tears still flowing out continuously. Her once blue eyes turned to red. A red glowing crown forming in the top of her forehead.
"I was wrong!" He continued. "I should not have pushed your buttons." He screamed. The armored men fighting the wind directed at them, still trying protect their director.
"I was wrong to blame you! I wasn't thinking straight. Just like you!" He shouted as the wind pushed them more. Owens' ducked before a branch hit him.
"I was only trying to protect Hawkins! I didn't think that I was hurting you in the process!"
"You're right! You have every right to blame us! We were hurting you and we don't care." His throat started hurting from all the shouting but he needs to help her.
"We treat you like an enemy! We shouldn't have done that because you are not the enemy!"
Naomi stared at them. Her tears stopped but her red eyes, her hiccups, her broken heart, still remained.
"We are!" He admitted. "We were there! But we didn't help! We just watched and we didn't investigate or questioned your brother's death."
"We just accepted it and that was wrong! Because with that, we neglected your feelings! We didn't treat you like you deserve!"
Naomi sobbed at what he admitted. The wind stopped pushing them but the red force still glowed around her.
"We didn't help you! You are not the monster! We are!" He shouted.
"With that, I'm sorry!" He shouted. The wind stopped. Samuel Owens stopped protecting his face to look directly at Naomi's eyes.
"I'm sorry that we just watched! I'm sorry that we didn't questioned! We might not be the one who ordered you to kill Naveen but we didn't help. I'm sorry that we kidnapped you! Took you away from your family, tortured you and stole away your childhood. We might not be Brenner but we helped him instead of you and with that I am sorry. We all are!" He apologized.
Naomi's eyes turned back to its natural color and a tear escaped it. She smiled. Not force and fake. It was genuine. For the last nine years, a real smile formed in her face.
"That's what I want to hear from the very beginning." She voiced. She smiled through the pain. Because even if it wasn't them who ordered her to kill her brother, they still helped to make them what they are now.
"Thank you for saying you're sorry." She smiled. A red blinding light surrounded her causing the people around her to cover their own eyes.
The light stopped and they opened their eyes. The red glowing crown that formed on her head before disappeared and was replaced by the physical form of it. Her once straight, waist length, black hair turned into a curly hair from scalp to its tip and changed to chest- length.
Her clothes was changed to a black dress, similar to what she was wearing the night she showed him her memory. She smiled at them. She looked ethereal.
She guided her powers to make her land softly to the ground. She smiled at them. Sadness still there but she was satisfied by their apology. Then she disappeared.
'They said sorry, Naveen. I wish you could hear this.'
They looked around. To catch a glimpse of her.
"Did it work?" Anthony asked. Stepping out of the car and walking towards the doctor.
"It did." Samuel Owens smiled at his assistant and ruffled his hair as soon as he went beside the older man. Anthony slapped his hand and fixed his hair.
"Please refrain from doing that. That was unprofessional." He said simply before walking away. Samuel Owens laughed as he looked around, desperate to see the teenage girl again.
"What should we do?" Samuel Owens asked, still watching the glowing light in the window. Silence formed around them as they thought of a solution.
"We should apologize." Anthony requested, catching the attention of the older male. "We didn't apologized before, did we?"
"We did and said bad things. I think she was just.....broken."
"I hope to see you again, Naomi. I'm very sorry. I really am." He whispered before walking away.
-*-
Dustin Henderson barged inside the hospital room. He looked at the direction of his mother. She looked almost lifeless. Tears clouded his vision as he ran to his mother's side.
He quickly hugged his mother. His friends stood still in the threshold of the hospital room. They looked at each other before nodding simultaneously, telepathically agreeing to let their friend alone for a while.
They closed the door to the hospital room before walking towards their parents direction. Will Byers looked at his mother. His forehead creased as he saw that she was talking to Dr. Samuel Owens. He marched towards them.
"Mom?" He asked. Joyce looked at his direction before clutching his hand. She then went back interrogating the doctor.
"I'm just asking what happened. Is it back? Is my son in danger again?" She questioned.
Will listens attentively. He wanted to know what happened and if he was in danger.
"Everything that happened is strictly confidential but no need to worry, your son is safe. Unless the visions are happening again." He replied. Joyce looked at his son, scrutinizing him. Samuel looked relieved when Joyce's attention went to her son.
Samuel Owens said his goodbyes and paid for Mrs. Henderson's bill.
He drove back to the lab. He sighed heavily. Events of what happened for the past days coming back at him. The guards opened the gate and he parked his car on the parking area.
He went inside the lab before Anthony rushed to him. Looking alarmed.
"What happened?" He asked. Anthony said nothing and just guided the director to a room.
Anthony opened the room and the director's eyes scanned it. His eyes widened as he watched a figure looked at his direction. Blue eyes clashed to his.
"Naveen..."
-*-
END OF ACT 1
EDITED
Author's Note,
Act 1 done!
7 chapters for 007. What did you think happened to Naomi?
Also, Naomi's curls will be just like Wanda in WandaVision. I really like her curls in that series. Same but in black color so just like Katherine in TVD. Her crown is the same as the one in WandaVision too. I really like Wanda's outfit when she transformed into the scarlet witch.